1. The document discusses the importance of first aid training and having a well-stocked first aid kit for common, everyday injuries. It recommends 20 essential items for a first aid kit including tweezers, safety pins, gloves, bandages, antiseptic ointment, and thermometer. 2. Regulations for workplace first aid kits require supplies like bandages and gloves. Experts recommend additional items like ice packs, plastic bags, scissors, tape, and creams to treat wounds, rashes, and inflammation. 3. A well-stocked first aid kit should contain supplies to stop bleeding, dress wounds, treat sprains and strains, reduce fever and pain, and protect against infection and

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THE IMPORTANCE OF FIRST-AID
While much of first-aid training focuses on life-threatening situations, more attention is needed on
the common, everyday injuries. While CPR skills are essential, so is knowing how to make and use a
first-aid kit. You may never give CPR, but you will certainly help those with less severe injuries.
OSHA has moved away from delineating what should be in a first-aid kit. Instead, they place the
onus back on the individual companies to decide (and defend) what they place in their first-aid kits.
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) recently made some revisions to its requirements
for workplace first-aid kits. It requires absorbent compresses, adhesive bandages, adhesive tape,
antiseptic, burn treatment, medical exam gloves, sterile pads, and triangular bandages. It
recommends bandage compresses, eye coverings, eyewash, cold packs, and roller bandages.
Alton Thygerson, of the National Safety Council’s First-Aid Institute, suggests the following 20
items as essential elements in a first-aid kit, and we agree:
1. Tweezers remove splinters, ticks and small objects from a wound. To use: Grasp the foreign
body as close to the skin surface as possible. Gently pull away from the skin with steady
pressure.
2. A Large Safety Pin is one of the most versatile first-aid tools you can use to remove a splinter
or embedded foreign body. You can also secure a bandage, help fasten an arm sling, or pop or
drain a blister. Before using a safety pin to drain a blister, sterilize it with rubbing alcohol or
pass it through a match flame.
3. Mouth-to-Barrier Devices with either a face mask with a one-way valve or a disposable face
shield to protect you against disease during rescue breathing. Personal protective equipment is
especially important in a car kit because you’re more likely to encounter a stranger who is
severely bleeding or needs resuscitation.
4. Disposable Medical-Grade Exam Gloves protect you against bloodborne diseases, including
hepatitis B virus (HBV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Use gloves in situations
involving blood or other body fluids. Store gloves in a plastic bag or empty film canister.
5. Ice Bags can effectively treat orthopedic injuries, such as dislocations, bruises, and strains of
muscles and joints. Apply an ice pack to the injured area for 20 to 30 minutes every 2 to 3 hours
during the first 24 to 48 hours.
6. Resealable Plastic Bags make excellent ice packs and improvise other first-aid supplies. For
an ice pack, double-bag (one inside another) ice or snow. Apply one layer of a wet cloth over
the injury. Place the ice pack on top. Use an elastic bandage to hold in place. For amputation
care, place the amputated part in the bag on a bed of ice. Don’t bury the part in ice.
7. A Thermometer measures body temperature. (You can also use the back of your hand to feel
someone’s forehead.)
8. Gauze Pads (4x4) control bleeding, prevent infection and contamination, and absorb blood and
other drainage. To stop bleeding, place a sterile gauze pad over the entire wound. Apply direct
pressure with your fingers or palm.
9. Adhesive-Strip Bandages, in assorted sizes, are handy for small cuts, abrasions and shallow
wounds. You can also use adhesive tape with gauze pads to cover wounds.

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10. A Conforming Self-Adhering Roller Bandage (4½ width) holds a compression, dressing or
splint in place. The slightly elastic, gauze-like material clings to itself so it can wrap around
almost any body part.
11. Scissors cut bandages or clothing. Blunt-tip scissors prevent injury while cutting next to the
skin.
12. Elastic Roller Bandages (3-inch width) are used to apply compression, which prevents
swelling from a sprain, strain, or bruise.
13. Adhesive Tape (1½-inch width) helps hold a splint and secures roller bandages and small
dressings. For those allergic to adhesive tape, use paper or special dermatological tape.
14. Duct Tape prevents blisters, holds a splint in place, and can substitute as a sling. For blisters
apply a piece of silver aluminum duct tape or use moleskin with a hole cut out of the middle,
secured by tape.
15. Antibiotic Ointment protects against bacteria and prevents infection of minor cuts, abrasions,
and burns.
16. Calamine Lotion helps stop itching and works as a drying agent for poison ivy, oak, sumac, and
skin rashes.
17. Hydrocortisone Cream (1 percent) relieves minor inflammation, skin irritation, and itching.
18. Aspirin or Ibuprofen reduces pain, swelling and fever. Acetaminophen reduces pain and fever,
but not swelling, and should be used for children instead of aspirin.
19. Antihistamines block the action of histamine, thus preventing or alleviating the major
symptoms of an allergic reaction.
20. Emergency Blanket made of Mylar can reduce body heat loss.